A Kremlin-backed bot network has launched a coordinated disinformation campaign ahead of Hungary’s parliamentary elections, spreading false claims, including that Hungarians were being urged to “take up arms and kill Viktor Orbán.”
The bot known as Matryoshka has focused its campaign on stoking tensions between Kyiv and Budapest ahead of the April 12 vote, Antibot4Navalny, a group that tracks Russian influence operations, told Politico.
One of the most widely circulated pieces of disinformation was a video falsely presented as a report from German broadcaster Deutsche Welle. The clip claimed that a group of Ukrainian refugees had been killed while attempting to detonate a homemade explosive device near Prime Minister Orbán’s office.
The footage, heavily boosted by bot activity, drew around 100,000 views.
Another video, falsely attributed to a Moldovan media outlet, claimed that Hungarians were receiving messages from Ukrainians urging them “to take up arms, resist the authorities and kill Viktor Orbán.”
That clip surfaced just days before The Washington Post reported that Russian intelligence had considered staging an assassination attempt on Orbán to boost his re-election chances, raising questions about the timing of the campaign.
Another disinformation post falsely attributed calls for a “bloody revolution” in Hungary to Oleh Tatarov, a senior official in Ukraine’s presidential office.
Breaking the pattern
Researchers from Antibot4Navalny told Politico that the operation marked a departure from the network’s usual pattern. The group said that Matryoshka has typically reacted to major news events rather than anticipating them, suggesting a possible shift in strategy.
“Normally, Matryoshka only reacts to what becomes known to the public, and it takes at least 24 hours for them to come up with something exploiting the latest news,” Antibot4Navalny said.
Matryoshka has also been active beyond Hungary. The same bot network was detected in Moldova ahead of last year’s presidential election, where it pushed false claims about pro-EU President Maia Sandu and circulated fake images depicting her execution.
Crunch elections
Hungary’s April 12 vote, widely billed as one of the most consequential in the country’s post-communist era, is seen as pivotal both in Brussels and Kyiv.
Orbán, in power since 2010, is among the few European leaders who have maintained cordial ties with Moscow despite the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The Eurosceptic leader has repeatedly opposed the EU’s military and financial aid packages for Kyiv and has sought to delay or block sanctions against Russia, often putting Budapest at odds with other member states.
But for the first time in 16 years, the nationalist premier’s grip on power faces a credible challenge from Péter Magyar, a former senior figure in his ruling Fidesz party.
Magyar resigned from the right-wing grouping in 2024 and has since emerged as the leader of the center-right opposition Tisza party seeking to unseat Orbán.
The campaign between Orbán and Magyar has so far been extremely bitter, with attitudes toward Russia and Ukraine at the heart of the political battle.
Russian spies in Budapest?
Magyar, who has vowed to anchor Budapest in the Western camp and reverse Orbán-era policies, has accused Moscow of meddling in the election to prop up the Kremlin-friendly leader.
Earlier this month, he claimed that operatives from Russia’s military intelligence service, the GRU, had arrived in Budapest to help tilt the vote in the government’s favor.
Most independent polls show Magyar’s Tisza holding a lead over Fidesz among decided voters ahead of the elections.